Labour run York Council is forcing through plans for the next stage of its controversial citywide 20mph roll-out despite public and political opposition.
A recent council consultation in west York saw only 7 out of 13,000 residents support the proposals for blanket 20mph limits in areas including Acomb, Holgate, Foxwood, Dringhouses and Woodthorpe. Despite this lack of public support, Labour’s Transport Chief approved the latest stage of the £600,000 roll-out last month and tonight Labour used their majority on the cross-party Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee to defeat a Liberal Democrat attempt to stop the policy. Labour won tonight’s vote by 5 to 4 with all opposition councillors voting against the 20mph scheme.
Lib Dem Councillors Ann Reid, Lynn Jeffries and Nigel Ayre had called-in the policy for review and urged Labour to abandon the scheme or delay it until the new limits introduced earlier in the year in South Bank could be properly assessed. Lib Dems argue that resources should be focused on roads with high accident rates after data provided by City of York Council showed that of the 383 accidents in west York over the last 5 years only 48 (13%) occurred on roads where it is now proposed to reduce the speed limit.
Speaking at tonight’s meeting Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport and Dringhouses & Woodthorpe Councillor, commented:
“This is an ill-considered, ill-thought out and unwanted scheme which will take money away from positive accident reduction schemes.
“Data provided by York Council shows that the roads with the highest recorded speeds are the roads where there are no proposals to reduce speeds. On many of the roads that are to have the limits lowered the average speeds are already well below 30mph and some are even below 20mph. Of the 383 accidents that have happened in west York over the last 5 years only 48 (13%) occurred on roads where it is now proposed to reduce the speed limit.
“It makes no sense to reduce limits on roads where there is not a perception of a speeding problem and where the current low accident rates mean that residents do not feel that the roads are unsafe. Money will be spent on a forest of signs for roads that currently do not have a problem and are unlikely to have a problem in the future. On Tadcaster Road alone there will be 17 pairs of signs between the Knavesmire gates and York College.
“My personal view and that of the Liberal Democrat Group is that this is a political decision which does not enjoy the support of residents. The evidence base for introducing blanket 20mph limits is rapidly decreasing as more councils find that the speeding problems remain and accident rates go up.
“This is a cosmetic exercise with 20mph signs going-up on roads where there is not a speeding problem. Our approach remains that the limited budget now available should be targeted at roads with a proven accident rate and areas with high pedestrian footfall.”
NB. Full details of the meeting can be found here: